Syncopation

by Anna Zabo

  “Seems like it to me.” Carl crossed his arms.

  Ray shrugged. “I’ll admit stage diving was probably not the best plan, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  “Every singer does it once in their career,” Mish said.

  Carl threw up his hands. “You don’t even fucking care about your image, do you? They think you’re a slut, Van Zeller. A—”

  “Drunk? That hasn’t been in the news for a while. And they don’t think I’m a slut, they think I’m fucking Zavier.”

  Carl stared at him.

  Ray rolled his eyes. “I’ve been keeping track of the scandal sites. It’s all about sex and rock and roll now, not about drunk, mean Ray beating up on his poor ex-drummer. Or about my uncontrolled temper, or any of that.”

  Hell, even Kevin had issued a statement that pretty much debunked Ray’s violent personality and outed himself as being in rehab. Ray had gotten an email from him. Couldn’t stand them saying that about you. I know we had our differences, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. You were a jerk sometimes, but I was more of one.

  Yeah, maybe they were in debt to the record company, but they were also screaming up the charts and a name on many, many people’s lips.

  Ray sighed. “Look, I don’t plan on crowd surfing again. That was a little too intense.”

  Carl grunted and almost looked satisfied with that answer. “I guess you do have a brain after all.”

  Ray didn’t even bother answering that, just grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it back. “We gotta go do the signings.” With that, and completely unrehearsed, the whole band rose and walked out of the room.

  Zavier hooked an arm over Ray’s shoulder. “I guess I don’t need to ask if you lost your balls out in the crowd.”

  Mish’s laughter echoed down the hallway. “If anything, he’s grown them back.”

  “I don’t need to hear about Ray’s balls.” Dom tugged at his studded collar. “But the look on Carl’s face during that whole convo was priceless!”

  God, Ray loved this band. Loved them all. Zavier’s warmth seeped into his skin and a cheer went up when they walked out near the crowd like that.

  The signings went well. So many people had stories or hopes and dreams they wanted to share. The delight of the fans bolstered and carried Ray through the night and straight to the hotel. More press and fans as they entered, then they were on the elevator and to their rooms. Once more, they had a good portion of the floor for the band and crew. Or maybe all of it, he wasn’t sure.

  When the band got to their rooms, Mish held up her hand. “Wait a minute, who’s in which rooms?”

  Turned out Ray and Zavier were across from each other.

  “Nuh-uh.” She snatched Zavier’s keycards. “You’re next to Ray. I’m not putting up with listening to you guys going at it all night.”

  Dom was trying not to smile. Zav, for his part, took her keycards. His smile threatened to melt Ray’s bones. “I’ll try not to be too loud.”

  “It’s not you I’m worried about, hon.” Mish winked at Ray, then vanished into her room.

  Shit, he didn’t need to blush that hard. But with the way Zavier looked at him, and Dom smiling at the floor...yeah. His cheeks were hot.

  “You guys have fun,” Dom said, then entered his room.

  That left Ray and Zavier in the hall. “Go in and relax.” Zavier nodded at the room. “I need to call down to see about getting my package anyway.”

  And that sent heat to other parts of Ray’s body. Zavier’s Amazon order. Fuck. Just the thought of being tied down to a bed had him tripping over his feet to get into his room. Relax? Yeah, right.

  The room was nice. Big bed. Good space. Lots of bottles of water and some fruit. He dropped his bag on the floor in the closet and looked around. About the time he spotted the door that joined their two rooms, he heard the gentle knock from the other side. Took no time at all to unlock the door, and there was Zavier.

  “Well, this will make things much easier.” Zavier grinned.

  Oh yeah. No slamming doors. No keycards needed.

  Zavier peered inside. “I think my room might work better.” He motioned for Ray to join him.

  After stepping inside, Ray agreed with Zav. This room was larger and the layout a little better. Same big bed. A chaise lounge. Even a padded bench by the foot of the bed. “How come I got the smaller room?”

  Zavier shrugged. “This was gonna be Mish’s.”

  “She missed out.”

  A chuckle. “I’m sure she’ll make do, somehow.” Zavier stepped close. “As will we.”

  Ray swallowed. “This is not going to help me relax.”

  Zavier gripped Ray’s chin. “The question is, do you want to relax, or start now?”

  “I want both.” The answer came out before he could even stop to think.

  Zavier smiled. “I can work with that.” He snaked a hand around Ray’s back and pulled them together. He was hard—harder than Ray, but not for long. “Go shower, and when you’re finished, kneel at the foot of my bed.”

  “Okay.”

  Zavier nipped Ray’s neck, then whispered into his ear, “I’m gonna make you scream tonight.”

  He trembled and thrust against Zavier. “You can try.”

  A pat on his ass, and Zavier stepped back. “Go.”

  Ray went. A shower didn’t take too long, but he took his time, easing out some of the aches from performing and trying to calm his dick down, though every minute closer to kneeling for Zavier only fired his blood. He shut the water off and dried himself. He hesitated in his room, but no. Clothing would be pointless. He did crack a bottle of water and drink some, though.

  God, he was nervous. Maybe because this was real, not them playing around in the bus. The water bottle in his hand was cool against his overheated skin.

  “Ray.” Zavier’s voice filtered in from the other room. “Come here, please.”

  Right. Ray put down the water and entered the other room. He stopped halfway to the bed. The bench had been moved, and laid out on the white bedspread were a selection of items he’d only seen in porn. Cuffs. A collar. A flogger and a crop. A gag? Yeah, that was a ball gag. Holy shit. Rope. And yes, a butt plug. There was also a dildo that was quite a bit thicker than Zavier’s cock. Shit. Ray took a step closer. Oh god, there were nipple clamps, too.

  Something close to a whimper came out of his lips.

  “Green, yellow, or red?” Zavier’s calm voice.

  “Green. I think. I—uh. You’re not gonna use all of those on me?”

  A huff of laughter. “No. Certainly not. I wanted to show you the option, though.” He stepped behind Ray, still fully clothed, and kissed his neck. “What interests you? What scares you? What makes you say red?”

  He studied the toys. “There’s nothing I’d say no to. The dildo frightens me more than the plug. It’s massive.”

  “Mmmhmm,” Zavier purred into his ear. “It is. It’s something to work toward—a goal, if you’d like.”

  He nodded, though the words something to work toward both delighted and worried him. “I want the cuffs. I want tied down. I’m not sure about the collar.”

  “It does have implications. It came with the cuffs. We don’t ever have to use it.” Zavier slid his hands down Ray’s sides.

  Okay. “I’m really curious about the flogger. It’s not gonna be like you spanking me.”

  “No.” Zavier gasped Ray’s hips and pressed his bulge into his ass. “Not at all.”

  Yeah, he wanted to try that. “Can I ask you something?”

  Zavier kissed along his shoulder, licking at the bruise he’d made. “Of course.”

  “If I said ‘do anything to me,’ what would you do tonight?”

  Zavier stopped moving for a moment, then he breathed along Ray’s skin like he’d just w
on a jackpot. “You absolutely amazing man. You have no idea.” Another press of lips to Ray’s neck. “I’d cuff each of your limbs, tie you to the bed facedown, and flog your ass. Spank you afterward—so you know the difference—then plug your hole and watch you for a while. Your struggles. Your need. How you move and want and breathe. And when you’re ready, I’d fuck you into that rather nice mattress until you scream my name.”

  Shit—shit. Ray couldn’t breathe. His whole body flamed with want and desire, and he wasn’t quite sure how he was still standing, except that Zavier had his arms around him. “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Please do that. Everything you said. Do it to me.”

  Zavier nipped at his skin. “Get on your knees.”

  Ray dropped to the floor.

  “Head down, Ray. Hands at the small of your back.”

  Not the child’s pose they’d used earlier. This was subservient. But this time he didn’t mind. He was Zav’s to use and pleasure tonight.

  Footsteps, and then the sounds of items being moved and the bed cleared. “The best thing about watching you on stage tonight was knowing I’d be fucking you later. All those fans screaming at you. Ripping your clothes off. Feeling you up.” Zavier laughed. “I don’t generally think of myself as possessive, but there was something succulent about knowing that my cock would be in your ass and my name on your lips while they pawed over you.”

  Ray moaned. Fucking hot, hearing that from Zavier’s mouth. A fleeting thought ran through his head. This is a little more than benefits. He quashed that. Later. Maybe he’d bring it up later.

  Zavier fell silent as he worked. The bed frame creaked. “There,” he said. “Ties to bind.” Fingers brushed Ray’s hair. “Sit up. Slowly.”

  He did, and blinked. Everything was brighter. Heady. “How do you do that? Make me feel so—” He shook his head.

  “Out of it? I don’t, exactly. That’s you reacting to me. Look up subspace sometime.” Zavier held a pair of cuffs in his hand. “Your wrists, Ray.”

  He offered them over and groaned when Zavier buckled the cuffs on tight. “Shit. I—fuck, this is hot.”

  A chuckle. “Wait until I have you spread-eagle on the bed.”

  That didn’t take too long. Zavier had him stand, then lie down on the comforter—and the next thing Ray knew, his arms were tied down, one to each corner. The cuffs weren’t too tight, and while his arms were extended and there wasn’t much room to move, there was some. He rocked his cock into the bed.

  Zavier swatted his ass. “I didn’t say you could get yourself off.”

  “This whole thing is getting me off.”

  Another blow to his behind. It stung, but there wasn’t enough force to even call it punishment. “If you come, I’m still gonna fuck you.”

  Yeah, Ray figured. “Might get me off twice.”

  A grunt. “Some night, when we have time, I’ll see just how many times I can.”

  That would be fun and torture all rolled into one. “Okay.”

  Zavier cuffed Ray’s ankle, then tied it down. “You really are magnificent.”

  Embarrassment crept up Ray’s spine. “Just horny. That’s all.”

  “No, that’s not all.” Zavier kissed his ass, then cuffed and tied the other leg.

  He had no idea what Zavier meant, and the impulse to ask fled as soon as Zavier caressed his back and sides. He wiggled, but nope. He really was tied down to the bed. A spike of panic, followed by delight ran up to his head and pinpricks rose on his arms.

  “Mmm.” Zavier patted his ass. “I could drink you down when you move like that.”

  “This is intense.”

  Soft leather trailed against Ray’s right arm. He turned his head and watched the end of the flogger slide over his skin. Zavier smiled at him. “It’s only going to get more so.”

  God. He shivered at the words, at the leather slipping over his heated skin. Zavier moved out of his line of sight. “I’ll start slow.”

  That was all the warning Ray had before those leather strips fell on his ass.

  He jumped, even though it didn’t hurt. Not one bit. Just a thud of softness on one cheek. Then repeated on the other. He pulled at his bindings and settled into the mattress. No way it would stay that painless.

  It didn’t. Each blow came harder and a little faster and warmth radiated up from his ass—then pain. Sharp stings as the leather hit the same spots over and over and over.

  “Fuck.” His whole body tensed.

  “Let go, Ray.”

  He couldn’t. Not right away. It wasn’t until the pain made him cry out that he hit that amazing spot where the heat and the sharpness slid into pleasure and light.

  “There you go.” Pure joy in Zavier’s voice. “Dance for me, Ray.”

  The blows became harder, and Ray moaned and swayed as much as he could with the rhythm Zavier had laid down. Each time, agony blended to heat into warmth that radiated up his bones and made him fly. He didn’t know where he started or ended, only that he was.

  When Zavier stopped, Ray groaned—and fell a little out of that high. But Zavier’s hands were on him, smoothing, calming, and inflaming. God. He’d never really thought about liking pain before, and he wondered if it was that or Zav or the surrender.

  “Want to feel the difference between that and a spanking?”

  Yes. No. Shit. “Yellow.”

  Zavier trailed fingers over Ray’s burning ass. “That’s fine. It’s a lot to take in at once, I know. Being bound. Being flogged. I’m grateful that you’ve allowed me this much.”

  Tears leaked out of Ray’s eyes. He wasn’t crying. Not really. It was relief and joy and fear and...love. He was in love with Zavier—with his patience and his voice and his kindness. With the kink and the admiration. His snarky replies to Carl. Everything.

  Fuck. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love.

  “Shh. We can stop. I’ll untie you.”

  “No,” he rasped. “I—give me a minute. I’m okay. It’s just overwhelming.” And it was. The pain and the ecstasy. The way he loved being held down. Zavier’s ministration. “You can spank me.” He wanted to give Zavier that—whatever it was that he got out of this—Ray wanted him to have all of it.

  Zavier took a breath and blew it over the heated skin of Ray’s ass.

  Ray squirmed. The coolness hurt and soothed and made him want to fuck the bedspread until he spent himself. He was already hovering in that perfect buzz of pleasure.

  “Four blows, then. And I want you to count them.” There was an edge to Zavier’s voice. Not anger, but something hard and hot. Lust?

  “Okay.”

  The first took his breath away, and he barely got “one” out before the second landed. Oh fuck, they burned. More than the flogging, More than before. Needles up his back. The third put tears back into his eyes and the fourth had him screaming the number out.

  In the silence that followed, Zavier appeared in his vision. He’d stripped off his shirt somewhere along the line and his ink-covered chest was ruddy with exertion.

  Zavier brushed some tears from Ray’s face. “Thank you for letting me do that.” More than lust in his voice, but Ray couldn’t say what. “Thank you for trusting me—though I don’t think you enjoyed it. Not like the flogging.”

  Ray closed his eyes. “I—maybe. I don’t know. It hurt, but now...’s not too bad.” It wasn’t. With the sharpness and immediacy gone, the ache that spread out was delightful and calming. He relaxed into the bed. “Feels like you should fuck me.”

  A finger brushed his lips. “I will. But I want to plug you first. Stretch you. Watch you. Can I do that?”

  Warmth in Zavier’s voice. Ray flicked his eyes open, his cock suddenly very eager about all those things. “Yeah. Green, Zav.”

  His heart melted when Zavier smiled. He wanted to see that express
ion every day. That joy.

  He closed his eyes again. The bed dipped slightly, and this time it was Zavier’s lips that brushed his. He opened and gave himself over to Zavier’s kiss, those fingers in his hair. When Zavier pulled back, he kissed Ray’s cheek. “Promise I’ll make it good for you.”

  Understatement of the year, mostly because Zavier started by rimming him again, to the same effect as before—Ray went out of his mind. Might as well have scooped out his brains because he couldn’t think beyond what Zavier’s mouth and fingers were doing to open him and pleasure him. He thrust against the mattress, too aware of how close he was. Every limb tingled, and doubly so because they were bound down and stretched and he was entirely Zavier’s.

  Lube followed, then the cool, hard tip of the plug. He thrust back on it, taking it, even as it burned and stretched his ass. When he’d seen it on the bed, the plug hadn’t looked any larger in girth than Zavier’s dick. In practice, though, it was larger—harder—and oh god, did it feel good.

  And yeah, after it was seated he squirmed and squirmed and thrust and moved. Couldn’t help it. Every shift rubbed the damn thing against his prostate, and pleasure exploded in his body. He was going to come like this, bound and flogged and plugged.

  He pushed his cock against the roughness of the comforter and panted. “Fuck, Zav...”

  “Oh, Ray.” Zavier’s words were a sigh and a caress all rolled into one. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  Ray moaned and searched for him, but wherever Zavier was, it was out of his line of sight. Turning this way or that only stretched his arms and legs and shifted the plug more. Lightning shot up his veins, and he shuddered.

  “You’re close, aren’t you?” A rustle of clothing, then a sound he knew very well—Zavier was jacking off. “On edge without me even touching you.”

  The thought of Zavier watching him, of masturbating to his bound form, only made Ray thrust harder against the bed.

  “Yeah, that’s it, Ray. Show me how much you enjoy being tied down, being plugged for me. I want to hear it. See it.”